La Sala Rossa

4848 Boulevard St-Laurent, Montreal

With a bigger stage and capacity than its sister venue Casa del Popolo (boasting 250 to Casa’s 55), La Sala Rossa (The Red Room) is on the second floor of the venue — with no elevator or ramp — above the restaurant. The room’s gleaming chandeliers illuminate a wide wooden floor that offers lots of room for dancing. On any given night, the room may play host to a cabaret, free-jazz performers, breakdance competitions, reggae tunes, DJs, folk or indie-rock performers, film screenings or a flamenco show.

This historic Montreal building was built by the left-wing Jewish community in 1932 and acted as a cultural/recreational/political centre throughout the 1940s and ’50s (once hosting guest Eleanor Roosevelt). For the past 30 years, the Centro Social Español has occupied the building and continues to use it as a Spanish cultural centre.